Dark Republic
by VDestiny
Summary: 1000 years have passed since the Empire’s defeat over Endor. But things are not as they seem, and dark times are approaching…


DARK REPUBLIC  
  
VDestiny  
  
  
This story contains many things that are sidenotes, including a comprehensive outline and design notes. I will upload each to my own site when I get the chance, I am currently very busy.   
This story is long and very incomplete, and I am beginning writing tonight. It will be written off and on for as long as it takes. It will also be uploaded to my own site. If you'd like to receive updates of this story please leave your e-mail in the review box (in the actual review, not just the 'E-mail' box). I may contact you off and on to ask your opinion on scenes.  
  
Disclaimer: The Star Wars galaxy, characters, locations, events, etc. are (c)LucasFilm Ltd. They are being used here without permission. No money is being made from the use of Mr. Lucas' galaxy. You know the deal.  
  
PART ONE  
DARKNESS ABOUND  
STATUS: INCOMPLETE  
  
The man was a Sith. He entered the building, never once drawing a glance from the many guards, aides, and senators he passed. The Dark Side led him to his target; the senator. The office door opened with the usual soft hum of machinery. The man at the desk barely looked up before returning to his work. Then his head snapped up. The humanoid was truly terrifying. Not quite human, he took the appearance of a normal man. Beneath his dark cloak, the senator could see three horns protruding from his forehead. His smile showed nothing but hatred for the Republic senator whose office he was in. His eyes were red, not bloodshot, just a deep, terrifying red.   
"Who are you? What are you doing in my office?" The senator demanded, plucking up some courage. He slowly reached a hand under his desk for the blaster he kept there. The man spoke softly, but the senator caught his every word.  
"I am Taic Cist, servant of the Dark Side. I have been sent here by my master to eliminate you." The senator's courage failed.  
"Guards!" He said feebly. Cist smiled again. He hated this man because he was a supporter of the cursed Jedi, and so he must die. Still, he respected the man's bravery. He knew, of course, that the man was readying a blaster under the desk, the Force told him so, but the bravery of the man astounded him. All of his victims had died begging for mercy, and Cist had given them a slow and painful death. This man, however, had earned himself a fast and fairly painless demise.   
Reaching a hand down slowly, Cist pulled the cloak back to reveal the long-handled lightsaber hidden under the folds. The senator, terrified, fired the blaster.   
The energy bolt blew the wood of the expensive desk outwards, spraying Cist with shrapnel. Surprised, Cist failed to deflect the weakened bolt. The second bolt, however, was deflected by the double-bladed lightsaber. The senator tore his weapon free of its cradle, revealing it to be not a holdout blaster, as Cist had thought, but a BlasTech Corp. Heavy Blaster Rifle. It fired non-stop, building up tremendous heat in a useless effort to stop the Dark Jedi. His lightsaber spun and deflected bolt after bolt into the walls.   
Nothing could stop Taic Cist from completing his mission. He stepped forward calmly and cut downwards with the scarlet energy blade. The senator dropped the smoking remains of the rifle and tried to draw his holdout, but it was to late. In one smooth stroke, the man's head was parted from his body. Cist shut down the lightsaber, and, gathering the Dark Side about him like a cloak, left the building unnoticed. The senator's body wasn't found until a droid entered the office with his lunch five hours later.  
  
Auroa Skywalker, heir of the legendry Luke Skywalker, hero of the Republic, approached the Jedi Temple with trepidation. News of the senator's death at the hands of a lightsaber-wielding man had travelled to the Jedi fast. She and her companion, Harmony, had been called for an emergency meeting of the Jedi Council immediately. She was a tall woman of medium build, with striking dark hair and beautiful brown eyes. She bore a remarkable resemblance to her ancestor, Leia Organa, as she had often been told from people who had seen the original holograms of her. She wore a robe of a deep purple, complete with her lightsaber and a comlink.   
As the massive temple approached her apprehension grew. Before she knew it, the speeder was slowing down.  
Harmony stepped out and stood by Auroa's side as she looked up at the grand temple. No matter how many times she saw it it never failed to amaze her. Built by the greatest architects of the New Republic, not a building to date could match it's splendour and magnificence. Nor it's reputation. In the 700 years since it's creation it had seen many an important conference and even the occasional battle. The Republic-Koscan coalition has been held there in 666 A.E.1, and Supreme Chancellor Halson had been killed there when an airspeeder loaded with explosives had slammed into the North Tower, collapsing it and killing three hundred.   
Presently, Auroa and Harmony entered the temple. A 7MO droid led them to the Council Chamber, where they were left and told to wait. There were no seats, so they instead stood in front of the window and gazed over the vast skyline of the Capital. The view varied little anywhere on the planet, indeed much of Kahltaar's surface looked just like this particular scene. Always in motion is the future. Auroa let out a cold, high laugh.  
"How true it is," she thought silently. "Just as the traffic is always in motion." The endless stream of airspeeders, transports, and speeders stretched as far as the eye could see, and further, and never ceased to be in motion.  
At that moment the droid returned and announced that the Council was ready to receive them, and Auroa's thoughts were cut off. They entered in silence and stood in the centre of the circular room, surrounded by the entire council. They bowed, greeting the Council in the time-honoured formal fashion. The usual murmur of "Jedi Skywalker, Harmony". It was the formal response.   
Laozu-He, High Master of the Jedi Order, spoke: "You are aware of the circumstances regarding your summoning, Jedi Skywalker?" he asked. His voice was calm and courteous, yet held a power that Auroa scarce dream of.  
"I am, my Master," she answered respectfully.  
"Good, then we shan't waste precious discussing it. You are to go to Dark Moon immediately and learn all you can about this mysterious warrior."  
"Yes, High Master, but what of-"   
"Harmony will accompany you, if she so desires," Laozu-He nodded in Harmony's direction. "And I have no doubt that she has every intention of it,"  
"I do, High Master. Thank you," Harmony bowed to Laozu and turned to leave.   
"May the Force be with you," The two Jedi bowed low and exited the room in silence.  
  
"We should be ready to depart tonight," Auroa climbed into the speeder and fastened her safety harness. "Make arrangements and meet me at the ship at 2200 hours."  
"Don't worry, I'll be there!" Harmony watched the speeder depart, then hailed a sky-cab. "Eastport Residential Complex, please," she told the droid "and hurry." The droid acknowledged with a beep and piloted the open-air vehicle into the endless flow of traffic.   
  
"Welcome to Dark Moon, Jedi Skywalker," the Taal bowed to the two Jedi.  
"It is a pleasure to be here, Master Zon," she assured him, shaking his hand. "Allow me to introduce my companion, Harmony,"  
"It is a delight to meet you, also, Jedi Harmony," he said, taking her hand in both of his and shaking it vigorously. "Please, come this way. Follow me! Watch your step now, yes that's it," He led them through the cavernous hanger bay and into the Sanctuary itself.   
The Jedi Sanctuaries had been established years before as a refuge for Jedi Knights against the cold of the galaxy. There were 22 in total, each with the finest medical supplies and treatment centres available. They provided a place for exhausted Jedi to come and 'refuel' before their net mission, as well as allow them to train and test their skill in the 'Gauntlet' and with other Jedi. Dark Moon was the largest of them all, with the ability to house almost 1200 beings. It was, as its name implied, located on a moon. The name was derived from the planet it has once been a moon to, orbiting in such a way that it was always blocked from the sun by the planet's mass. A permanent lunar eclipse.   
"Now, if I may ask, what is your purpose here?" he enquired, opening a door and escorting them into a vast dining hall. A large, expensive wooden table stood on a raised platform in the centre.  
"We have come for information," Auroa answered politely, taking the seat that was offered to her.  
"Information, you say? Hmmm, we may be of use to you. Yes, what kind of information?"  
"About a man. A man named Taic Cist,"   
"No! I know nothing of a Taic Cist!" The Taal said, his voice rising in alarm.   
"Please, you must know something!" Auroa insisted, taking his change I tone as a sign of fear.  
"No! I do not know anything of Taic Cist. Go away! Please, leave us alone!"  
"Sir, this is a matter of galactic importance. This man killed once of our senators. He must be brought to justice." Harmony piped in.  
"All right!" he sputtered, sitting down. "Taic Cist was once a student here, at Dark Moon. He was brought back as a child by a Jedi Knight who did not want him abandoned. He was never revealed to the Council, we feared he would be deemed to old to begin the training."  
"So you trained him in secret, here," Auroa said.  
"Yes. I instructed him as well as I could in the Ways of the Force. He was an avid learner, always keen and ready to take on challenges. He was the best student we had, but he was also a troublemaker. Always getting into trouble, he was, taking lightsabers and playing with them. When he was only fourteen, however, things took a turn for the worst.  
"Almost twenty years prior to our story's opening Taic Cist was training at Dark Moon Sanctuary. On a training mission to Dormiens a good friend of his was killed by bounty hunters attempting to escape. Cist, enraged by this, swore revenge upon the killers. This, of course, violated the Jedi Code   
"When we told him it was a choice between settling down or being thrown out of the Order a fight ensured, ending with Cist's leaving the Order for good. Months later, three bounty hunters turned up dead.   
He took a ship and left, and until now he hasn't been heard from."  
"And now he's back, and fallen victim to the Dark Side," Auroa finished.  
"So it would seem," the Taal responded.   
"We must leave immediately and report our findings to the Council. Thank you for your hospitality,"  
"You're sure you won't stay for just a little while?"  
"We would, but we must depart at once," Harmony told him, rising. "We will return when we can,"  
"It would be my honour to serve you again," the Taal responded, shaking their hands once last time.  
"May your journey by quick and without danger,"  
  
For the second time in four days Auroa stood in front of the Jedi Council, albeit this time alone. Harmony has been called off to settle a dispute in one of Kahltaar's underworld bars.  
"Masters, I have much to report," she addressed them all, though she faced Laozu-He.   
"All in good time, Jedi Skywalker. Now, however, we have a much more important matter. There has been another attack, on the Stone Corporation," The Stone Corporation, besides having personal ties with Auroa, was the largest private trade and transport in the galaxy. They owned to two of the space station in orbit around Kahltaar and had contacts on 86% of the known worlds.  
"What happened?" she asked, horror-stricken.   
"It was Cist, he broke into Mr. Stone's office and killed him. His personal   
holocams were disabled, Republic Security is calling it a technical glitch." He told her.  
"They don't want the public afraid of a Sith on the rampage," Auroa observed. "Make's sense."  
"So you believe Cist to be a Sith Lord?" Aneth Zou, another of the High Masters, asked cautiously.   
"I do, High Master,"  
"Ridiculous! The Sith could not have returned without our knowledge!" she declared.  
"I am not so sure, Aneth. Remember, the Force works in mysterious ways," Laozu-He responded thoughtfully.   
"Perhaps they have been in hiding, biding their time," Mavar Tist put in.  
"But why now to return? The Republic is at the strongest it has been in years," Laozu retorted.  
The rest of the Council nodded their heads in agreement.  
"Like you said, Master Laozu, the Force works in mysterious ways." Auroa spoke up, startling the Council.  
"It does indeed, Jedi Skywalker. It does indeed."  
  
  
  
Extracted from Dark Republic - Synopsis  
  
With Troy Stone's death, his daughter, Faith, takes over Stone Shipping Ltd. Also, with the death of the senator, 27-year-old Isabella 'Izzy' Montana is instated. Faith, using her 'connections', quickly learns the details of her father's death and vows to track down those responsible. Izzy, who is an old friend of Faith, warns her that it will be dangerous. She sends agents to search the Galactic Data Bank and herself travels to New Moon Sanctuary. She is politely informed that the Jedi can give them no information and to get lost. She returns to Kahltaar to take control of her company.   
  
1 After Endor 


End file.
